First, in partnership with the UW Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF), you can join SER-UW at the Whitman Walk Restoration Area from 1 to 4 p.m. to help remove invasive species that have started to creep back into the site. For those of you who just want to learn more about the site, SER-UW will be giving tours to describe their restoration work that has transformed this area from a small patch of forest overrun with invasive species into an example of a biologically rich Puget Sound lowland forest with more than 40 new species added during the past two years!

Snacks and refreshments will be provided for everyone, and CSF will be handing out free totes and water bottles. For those who want to help with some restoration work, they’ll also have gloves and tools available. The Whitman Walk Restoration Area is located right between McCarty and Haggett Halls and the Denny IMA tennis courts.

Then, after some satisfying restoration work, you can relax with a can of Rainer Beer in the courtyard behind Anderson Hall at 5 p.m.! As part of the Earth Day festivities, SER-UW is taking advantage of Rainier’s Tabs for Trees program, for which Rainier will work with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant a new tree for every six beer tabs mailed back to them. So as you slake our thirst, you’ll also be helping promote tree planting and restoration at other locations in the Pacific Northwest!

No need to RSVP—just head out and join the fun at one or both events! And if you have any questions about either activity, email Jim Cronan or Brooke Cassell.

Organizers have selected about eight work sites throughout the Arboretum. Projects range from weeding and invasive plant removal to mulching and even some trail work, with different tasks suitable for 8-year-olds up through early teens and adults.

2012 Earth Day volunteers. See how pumped up and excited they are?

This year’s service event is expected to draw some 300 volunteers, including a crew from a fraternity and sorority at the University of Washington, groups from Southwest Airlines and other corporate partners, volunteers from the National Park Service, local high schools and other individual participants.

The event officially kicks at 9:30 a.m. with introductory remarks from several speakers, including Tom DeLuca, director of the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. By 10 a.m., volunteers will begin fanning out to project sites around the Arboretum, and the event ends at 2 p.m.

If this is the first you’ve heard of the clean-up, don’t worry, it’s not too late to sign up! You can register online up until noon on Friday, April 12, and walk-up registration on Saturday will be available beginning at 9 a.m. They’re eager for all the hands they can get, so come spend a morning playing in the dirt, celebrating our Earth, working together to beautify our community, and getting youth and community members involved!

Where: Washington Park Arboretum, 2300 Arboretum Drive E, Seattle 98112. We will meet in the Meadow, which is about a five-minute walk south of the Graham Visitors Center on Arboretum Drive.

What to bring: Water bottle, sack lunch, travel mug for a hot drink, sunscreen, rain gear, long pants, layers of clothing and boots. (Some snacks and drinks are provided.)

What you won’t need: Tools, gloves, environmental education and project materials, all of which will be provided on site!